Entertainment Studios
| subsid = | website = | footnotes = }} Entertainment Studios, Inc. is an American media company based in Los Angeles. Owned and founded in 1993 by African-American comedian Byron Allen, the company was initially involved in the production and distribution of first-run television series for U.S. television syndication. Under the banner Entertainment Studios Networks, it also operates a group of digital cable and satellite channels, which broadcast a mix of original programs and the company's syndicated content. In the late 2010s, the company made several major expansions to its operations, including entering the film distribution market, acquiring The Weather Channel from NBCUniversal and Bain Capital, partnering with Sinclair Broadcast Group to acquire the regional sports network chain Fox Sports Networks, and its acquisition of television stations from another minority-owned media group, Bayou City Broadcasting. History Entertainment Studios was founded in 1993 as CF Entertainment by Byron Allen. The company was initially focused on producing low-cost, syndicated non-fiction programming, including interview series and court shows (largely scripted from actual testimony). Allen serves as host for some of these programs. Entertainment Studios greenlit its first film and stage projects in December 2011, when it acquired the rights to develop a biographical film and theatrical play on the life of Sammy Davis, Jr. from Davis' daughter with actor/singer, Tracey Davis. The company ventured into scripted programming in 2012, with the third-quarter launch of the sitcoms Mr. Box Office and The First Family. Both are set for 104 episodes over two years under a model of accelerated production similar to Debmar-Mercury's 10-90 Model. The two half hour shows were picked up as a two hour weekend primetime programming block with two episodes of each show back to back by Tribune, Weigel and CBS Television Station groups. The company launched its eighth cable channel and first ad-supported service, Justice Central.TV, on December 10, 2012. In October 2015, Entertainment Studios acquired Freestyle Releasing for an undisclosed amount "said to be sealed for high-eight figures". Freestyle also had an output deal with Netflix. The Freestyle purchase was used to bolster an expansion into film distribution, via its new Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures division. Its first release, 47 Meters Down, took in $44 million in box office revenue. In January 2016, the company sued AT&T and Comcast for racial discrimination in being biased against minority run entertainment companies in not carrying its cable channels. AT&T settled in December with the addition of 7 of Entertainment Studios' channels added to AT&T's DirecTV line up. Entertainment Studios added similar suits against Charter and the FCC. In June 2016, Entertainment Studios acquired TheGrio, a news website focusing on stories of interest to African Americans. In mid-September 2017, the company announced plans to launch an over the top sports streaming service known as Sports.tv. On March 22, 2018, Entertainment Studios announced its intent to acquire The Weather Channel's television assets from an NBCUniversal/Bain Capital/Blackstone Group partnership. The actual value was undisclosed, but was reported to be around $300 million; the channel's non-television assets, which were separately sold to IBM two years prior, were not included in the sale. In September 2018, Entertainment Studios announced that it had arranged $500 million worth of credit facilities through Deutsche Bank Securities, Jefferies Financial Group, Brightwood Capital Advisors and Comerica. Allen explained that these funds were to be used for further "large-scale" acquisitions, productions, and other general expenses. In an interview with Variety, Allen stated that he was "not a seller", and that he was "one or two acquisitions away from being a fairly large company". On May 3, 2019, it was announced that, under the subsidiary Diamond Sports Group, Entertainment Studios would be an equity and content partner in Sinclair Broadcast Group's acquisition of Fox Sports Networks. On May 6, 2019, Entertainment Studios announced that it would expand into television station ownership by acquiring the stations of Bayou City Broadcasting for $165 million, including Evansville, Indiana's WEVV-TV and WEEV-LD, and Lafayette, Louisiana's KADN-TV and KLAF-LD. The stations will operate under the new unit, Allen Media Broadcasting. The sale was completed on July 31, 2019. On October 1, 2019, Allen Media agreed to purchase 11 stations from USA Television for $290 million. Television series distributed by Entertainment Studios Court shows *''America's Court with Judge Ross'' *''Justice for All with Judge Cristina Pérez'' *''Justice with Judge Mablean'' *''Supreme Justice with Judge Karen'' *''The Verdict with Judge Hatchett *We the People With Gloria Allred'' (2011-2012) Sitcoms *''The First Family'' (September 2012–April 25, 2015) syndicated (April 19, 2013– ) Centric *''Mr. Box Office'' (September 2012–April 25, 2015) syndicated (April 19, 2013– ) Centric Game shows *''Funny You Should Ask'' *''Who Wants to Date a Comedian?'' Syndicated specials *''Comedy Jam'' *''Feel the Beat'' *''Happy Holidays America'' *''We Have a Dream'' Talk and magazine series *''Beautiful Homes & Great Estates'' *''Career Day'' *''Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen'' *''Designers, Fashions & Runways'' *''Entertainers with Byron Allen'' *''Global Business People'' *''The Gossip Queens'' *''Latin Lifestyles'' *''Kickin' It with Byron Allen'' *''Urban Style'' *''The Writer's Hot List'' *''The Young Icons'' Other shows *''The American Athlete'' Entertainment Studios Networks Cable and Digital *''Automotive.TV'' *''Cars.TV'' *''Comedy.TV'' *''ES.TV'' *''MyDestination.TV'' *''Pets.TV'' *''Recipe.TV'' Television channels *Justice Central, launched December 10, 2012 on AT&T U-verse's family tier which is also its first advertising support only channel. * Weather network **The Weather Channel **Weatherscan **Local Now Allen Media Broadcasting Allen Media Broadcasting, LLC is a TV station operating company owned by Entertainment Studios. On May 6, 2019, Entertainment Studios announced that it would expand into television station ownership by acquiring the stations of Bayou City Broadcasting for $165 million, including Evansville, Indiana's WEVV-TV and WEEV-LD, and Lafayette, Louisiana's KADN-TV and KLAF-LD. The stations will operate under the new division Allen Media Broadcasting. Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures In 2016, Entertainment Studios began to make major expansions into film distribution; at the Sundance Film Festival, the company made a surprise $20 million bid for The Birth of a Nation, losing to Fox Searchlight. In July 2016, Entertainment Studios signed a multi-year home video and on-demand distribution deal with Anchor Bay Entertainment, covering future theatrical releases by the company. The studio acquired its first film later that month, with the North American rights to 47 Meters Down from Dimension Films. At the 2017 Toronto Film Festival, Entertainment Studios also bought Chappaquiddick, Replicas, and Hostiles. Entertainment Studios aimed to distribute at least 18 films in 2018. In January 2018, on his film distribution model, Allen stated: References External links * Category:Entertainment Studios Category:Television production companies of the United States Category:Television syndication distributors Category:Entertainment companies based in California Category:Companies based in Los Angeles Category:Entertainment companies established in 1993 Category:1993 establishments in California